India's most modern amphibious warship damaged

NEW DELHI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- India's most modern amphibious warship has been reportedly damaged after it ran aground off the coast of the port of Vishakhapatnam in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, prompting the Indian Navy to order a major probe into the incident.

INS Airavat, the latest of the Shardul class of tank-landing warships, has recently suffered damage in its propellers. It will now undergo significant repairs to its propellers and likely to be docked over the next few days to carry out a refit, the local media reports said Monday, quoting unnamed sources as saying.

India has only two such indigenous warships which were built by state-owned ship building companies. Both are currently stationed at the naval base in Vishakhapatnam.

However, the Indian Navy has refused to officially comment on the incident so far.

This is the ninth mishap involving Indian Navy's vessels in the last seven months.

In August last year, one of its submarines, INS Sindhurakshak, sank at Mumbai harbour, following multiple explosions triggered by a major fire inside the vessel, killing all 18 sailors on board.